7th Day of Lent
Dear friends in Christ! Today our reading takes us to the upper room on Maundy Thursday evening, the night in which He was betrayed. We first hear of Jesus washing His disciples’ feet, a work normally done by a servant. By this Jesus showed that greatness in His kingdom is humility and by it He gave a picture/ object lesson of His entire earthly life and ministry: that, as He says elsewhere [Mt 20.28], He came not to be served but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many. Jesus washing His disciples’ feet is not just an outward act of humility. Instead, its true meaning and significance is seen in Jesus’ words to Peter when Peter said that in no way should Jesus wash his feet: If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me. The actual meaning and purpose of this washing is the spiritual cleansing from sin. Only the one Jesus washes/ cleanses from sin has a part with Him since through Himself and by His own blood He was about to take away our sins and that taking away/ forgiveness is distributed to us through the Gospel and blessed baptism. In the Gospel and Sacraments Jesus is washing us clean from our sin.
This brings us to the vital point that we do well always to remember: the work of Christ stands for all people; the gift and blessing of forgiveness of sin, life and salvation stand for all people. There is no person for whom Jesus did not die; there is no sin of yours that Jesus did not pay the price for on the cross; there is no Law of God that you break that Jesus did not keep perfectly for you in your place. This is true for you, for me, for all people. But not all people will receive the gifts and fruit of Jesus’ work; not all people will, in the end, be saved and be in heaven, soul and body, eternally with the holy Triune God. Why not? Because they do not have faith in Christ! Faith is the hand that receives from the Lord all the blessings of Christ’s works, His gifts—forgiveness of sin and eternal life. Without faith, as Jesus tells Peter you have no part with Me. Although Jesus died for all, obtained salvation for all, not all will, in the end, be saved because they reject Christ, His work, His forgiveness and salvation as they reject the gift of faith—the only means/ instrument by which we may receive them.
1. We see this with the case of Judas in today’s reading where we hear Jesus saying: I do not speak concerning all of you. The kindly words and promises of future blessings that Jesus made and brought about stand for all—even for a Judas—but the reality is that by their unbelief most will reject Christ and His gifts and blessings. As we consider our Lord’s words this evening we will see that Jesus was betrayed by Judas—but not just by Judas but even by all still today who reject Him as He comes to them in love, mercy, and grace in His holy Word; that, sadly, even today the verse is fulfilled: He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.
Notice how Judas, the betrayer, is described in the psalm: He who eats bread with Me. Here is a picture of the utmost intimacy, of one “in the inner circle.” Eating meals together with a person implies friendship, even the closest of friendship. That’s precisely who Judas was. He was one of the 12. Scripture doesn’t record the account of Judas’ call to be one of the disciples, like it does for Matthew or Andrew, for example. But earlier Jesus had said [Jn 6.70], Did I not choose you, the twelve…? Jesus specifically chose Judas to be one of the 12, one in that blessed role to hear His teaching, that special teaching when He would pull the 12 aside from the crowds; Judas, as one of the 12, saw that teaching confirmed by the miracles. Like it was with the other 11, Jesus’ intent was that Judas too would trust His word and understand that He is the Son of God and the long-promised Savior of the world.
What a beautiful picture of “eating bread”—Jesus giving Judas the great spiritual food and drink for his soul: by preaching, by miracles, and even at that evening, because Judas hadn’t yet publicly revealed himself as the traitor, the Holy Supper of His body and blood. All this is Christ’s pure love, mercy and grace—that He had Judas eat bread with Him.
But what happened? He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me. Here the image of lifting up the heel is an image of kicking, delivering a malicious kick to the person who deserves the opposite. Jesus showed Judas nothing but the greatest kindness and mercy. Certainly He should deserve something better than to be betrayed by Judas, but He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me. By rejecting Jesus, by kicking Him and stepping on Him, so to speak, Judas cut himself off from that grace, mercy and love that Jesus showed and still wanted to show him; from Jesus’ grace, mercy and love that still stood, that still would have been there had Judas simply returned to it!
It is also vital to remember that the prophecy recorded as fulfilled in our text: He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me, is not a prophecy “of Judas”. Rather, it is a prophecy of Jesus. It is a prophecy that Jesus would be delivered that malicious kick, that Jesus would be betrayed by one who was close to Him, one of His closest followers, one who ate bread with Him. This is not a prophecy of Judas in the sense that it singles him out and that he was created by God for that specific purpose. In other words, it’s not that Judas “had to” betray Jesus. Judas was by birth and nature no more or no less sinful than others. He, like the rest of the 12, like you and me, like all people, was one desperately in need of the grace and mercy of God and the work of Christ. He was not “forced to” become a tool of the devil; it wasn’t as if there was no other option. Instead, what happened was that Judas again became the slave of sin and the devil. By his own free choice and will, following sin and the devil, Judas rejected Christ.
But notice the words of our text: but rather, in order that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me’. That prophecy of Scripture is about Jesus, that Jesus would be betrayed by One close to Him. How does this fit together with the fact that Judas was the betrayer? Simply this way: God did not “force” Judas to betray Him. Instead, because God is all-knowing and knows all things before they happen, even from eternity, Judas’ betrayal was foreseen and included in the eternal plan of God for the salvation of the world.
Here we see something very vital for us to remember and keep in mind especially during Lent: Jesus was not the victim of chance/ happenchance. Instead, Jesus knew precisely what was before Him, what would happen to Him. And that was all part of His willing obedience/ His perfect sacrifice. The events of Holy Week were in no way something going horribly wrong. Instead, Judas’ betrayal and ultimately Jesus’ crucifixion could only succeed because Jesus is the Lord, the true God, and He is in control. What does Jesus say in our text? Now I tell you before it comes to pass, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I AM. When Jesus says that… you may believe that I AM, He is saying He wants them to know/recognize that He is I AM, that is, Jehovah, the God of the OT, the one true almighty God, who knows all things and from Whom nothing is hidden. By saying this Jesus is telling Judas that he isn’t deceiving Him; and He is calling Judas to repentance, to recognize that he is planning on betraying the great I AM, almighty God Himself.
Also in this verse- Now I tell you before it comes to pass, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I AM- we see Jesus’ care for the rest of the disciples. The very thought that one of them, one who ate bread with Jesus, would betray Jesus would certainly rock them. Jesus was deeply concerned about the effect of the betrayal on the other 11. So to strengthen and firm them up in their faith Jesus, by announcing the events before they happen, is assuring them that He indeed is the very God, that their faith in Him is correct. By this knowledge they would be sustained in the temptation to doubt and despair as they see the events unfolding—and as the world would seem to think, spiraling out of control.
On top of that, Jesus gives them—the ones He chose for apostleship—the assurance that Judas’ betrayal does not change His relation to any of them. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. Even though Judas eliminated himself, forfeited his status as a believer and Apostle, their commission remained in force. He would send them into the entire world to bring the saving word because what Judas did would not derail Him from His saving work—He is the almighty God who knows all things and is in control over all things—even using this evil of the betrayal for good, for the salvation of the world.
2. We do ourselves a huge disservice, though, if during this Lenten season we shake our heads at Judas and wonder at his falling away and his betrayal of Jesus and pat ourselves on the back for being such good Christians. Then we miss the point; then we disconnect ourselves from the Passion account. The simple fact is that Judas serves us as a warning. After all, can’t each of us be described as: The one who eats bread with Me? After all, the Lord so richly blessed each of us. He called us to faith in Him and to be His own dear Christian and heir of heaven. We are most intimately connected to Him through holy Baptism. To be sure we aren’t apostles; but hasn’t Christ through His word shown us by the prophecies about Him which He all fulfilled, by His miracles and teachings preserved for us in sacred pages, that He is the true God and our Savior? By His Holy Spirit at work in the word, doesn’t Jesus nourish our souls and strengthen and keep us in the true faith? Doesn’t Jesus come to us in a special way in the Holy Supper, giving us His very body and blood, uniting Himself with us in a most wonderful way? We, dear Christian, are in a most glorious intimate communion with Him.
But so was Judas. We are no better than he. He was a sinner and we are sinners. But our advantage, dear Christian, is that we can look to Judas as a warning for ourselves. He gave sin a chance to take hold in his heart. He followed that sin where it wanted to take him.
Dear Christian, we have the warning of Judas. Let us not give sin a chance to take hold in us. That’s why we have the season of Lent in particular. We use Lent as that time to especially examine our hearts and lives in the mirror of God’s holy law. When we see where we have sinned—either doing what God has forbidden, or not doing what He has commanded, or even just recognizing our own sinful condition—being other than God would have us be—let us be all the more diligent to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading and prompting and then root that sin out of our lives. Recognizing our sin, sorrowing over it—that by our sin we have lifted up our heel against Christ, let us then run to the Lord trusting in Him and His work. We can do that because His work and His forgiveness stand! They are an accomplished fact; He is merciful and He wants to give us the blessing and fruit of His saving work. That’s why when we sin and turn to the Lord in repentance, He is there announcing the absolution/ giving us the forgiveness of sin; He is there in the Holy Supper giving us the assurance of our forgiveness as we eat and drink His very body and blood which bore our sins and was shed for our forgiveness. Yes, we will sin against our Lord, and often grievously so. We often give sin a chance to take hold in us. But let us examine our hearts and lives to recognize our sin—and by the Spirit’s power root out that sin. It is never too late and we need never despair. Jesus’ forgiveness abounds. INJ